Apparatus for drawing filaments



Oct. 7, 1952 H. E. HOLCOMB 2,613,039

APPARATUS FOR DRAWING FILAMENTS Filed 001;. 22. 1947 I N V EN TOR.//,4ae y 5. 6 04 (d/"6 47T02WEK I Patented Oct. 7, 1952 1 a.

"Harry E. Holcomb, S tratford,Connaassignor to ,Johns-ManvilleCorporationlNew York, a corporationpf New York v p The instant inventionrelates to improved methods and apparatus for drawing filaments andaccumulating them in aplurality of layers on adrum or similar collectingdevice. The invention is particularly adapted for the produc-,

:tion of glass filaments from a body of molten glass, and the followingdiscussionwill be directed to such operations. It will be understood,however, that the invention is not limited thereto and that it may beemployed in the production of other drawn filaments. l

,. Heretofore a conventional method. of drawing and accumulating glassfilaments has employed a cylindrical drawing drum rotated at arelatively high speed. Thefilaments are drawn out from.

a,.,plurality of orifices in a glass melting furnace, preferably locatedabovethe drum and attached to the drum and wound thereon. In order thata coherent body or mat of the filaments will be obtained which can behandled. and further processed, thesuccessive layers on the drum arelaid in intercrossed relationship. This is effected in the conventionaloperation by reciprocating the furnace parallel to the axis of the drumduring the winding operation, the rate of reciproca tion relative to therate of winding depending upon the particular angularity desired, thoughusually the angle between the filaments is re1ativelyacute. The matproduced in this manner may be worked in various ways; for example, itmay be stretched in a direction substantiallyperpendicular to the layof,the filaments whereby it is expanded or opened up, similar to that ofa. lazy tongs, and the open mat then converted into. products of varioustypes.

The principal object of the inventioniis the provision of an improvedmethod and apparatus for the production and collection of filaments ofthe type referred to which will produce a mat having the desirablecharacteristics of the mats made by the prior processes, but without theundesirable characteristics resulting from the mode of operation,particularly the reciprocation of the furnace.

In the prior operations, as the furnace travels from one end of the drumto the other to lay the filaments in spiral formation, there is. aperceptible pause at each end of its. travel tolpermit the change ofdirection. Duringthis pause the filaments accumulate at the edges of thedrum. In the period required to build upthe mat to commercialthickness,usually several hours, the ends of the filamentary body on thedrum become substantially thicker than the center. Y It has been foundfor example, that inthe production of a mat thick the mat mayrea'ch athickness of or greater over a distance of approximately 9- from eachedge. As a result approximately 18 of the width of the mat is unusableif a productof uniform characteristics is desired. A. specific 'objectofthe invention is the provision of a methodx-and apparatus whichwillproduce'a mat' of uniform, usable thickness throughoutits width. l iH Another object of the invention is the provision of a method andapparatus of the typereferred to which will increase the capacity of theequipment, reduce filament. breakage, particularly through theelimination of vibration caused by the reciprocating furnaca provide amore even distribution of the filaments acrossethe drum, produce amatwith little or no tying inof filaments and which will provide lowermanufacturing costs both through. permitting greater recovery of usablematerial and through a substan* tial reduction inthe laborrequired. i

The prior apparatus is inherently jerky and irregular inoperation whichleads to filament breakage; necessitating the close attention of anoperator.) To replace the broken filaments he ordinarily employs a glassrod, the end of which isplaced against the moltenv stream of glassissuing from the furnace orifice, and then lowered to stringoutafilament which the operator places against themat on the .drum to bepicked up so. that the drawing of the filament from the orificeisresumed. Dueto the reciprocation ofthe furnace, the operator, in hisattemptto contact theorifice with the glass rod, often breaks otherfilaments and adds to' his difiiculties as well as further detractingfrom the uniform characteristics of.the mat. The jerkiness andirregularityiin operation also tends to cause entanglement of thefilaments on the drum, this being a primary. cause of difiicultiesheretofore encountered in the later operation of expanding the mat.

A further object of the invention is the provision of anapparatusandmethod in which the above difficulties are overcome. Theglassffurnace isstationary and the traverse of the fila ments axially ofthe drum is obtained through oscillation of the drum.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an apparatusincluding a drawing drum mounted for oscillation on an axis extending atright angles to the axial dimension of thedrum and means for oscillatingthe drum at a con trolled rate relatively to the rotation of the drum,

-My inventionlwillbe more fully understood and further objects andadvantages thereof will be Referring now to the drawings, there isshowna glass melting furnace or a kiln supported 1 by suitable means(not shown) in stationary position above a filament winding or drawingdrum.

[2. type employed in th production of continuous glass filamentsand,-hence will not be desoribed in detail. It; includes an orificeplate having one or more rows of orifices M, the rows extendingsubstantially parallel to the axis of the drum. The molten glass exudesfrom the orifices in fine streams, the streams;being drawn out andattached to the drum whereby, uponrotation of the drum, a filament iscontinuously drawn'from each of the orifices. Glass furnace I0 is madelonger than the conventional furnace so that its orifice plate overliesthe greater portion of the length of drawingdrum 12. For example, wherethe length of the drum is such as to accommodate a mat of fibers 5 inwidth, the distance between the orifices at the opposite ends ofthelplate may bersay Drawing drum I2 i also of generally conventionaltype and is mounted to rotate with a shaft 16' supported for rotationinframe members l8 at'oppositeends of the drum. The shaft is driventorotate the. drum in the direction indicatedby the arrow (see Fig. 2)by a motor 20 and suitable drive means such as chain sprocket drive,illustrated at 22, operatively connecting the motor and shaft or througha variable speed drive, as desired.

In accordance with the instant invention drum i2 is mounted foroscillatory movement onan axis extending at substantially right anglesto the axial dimension of the drum whereby successive layers of thefilamentswill be wound on the drum in crossing relationship to thefilaments of the next previous layers. The oscillation of the drum henceserves the same function as the reciprocation of the furnace in thestandard apparatus and the mat has similar desirable properties to that.previously. obtained. The. mechanism for oscillating the drum.may take.diiferent forms, one example being shown in the drawings and hereinafterdescribed. This mechanism includes a platform 2d supporting. themembers. ['8' which carry thedrum; Platform 24 is supported. on aplurality of rockers 26, two being shown, :the rockers includingcentrally located, semi-circular seats 28 for rockingumovement on apivot member 38. The latter suitably consists of a cylindrical shaftlying in a recess. in the foundation or floor .3l and extending atsubstantially right angles to the axial dimension of the drum.Alternatively shaft 3% may be fixedly connected to rockers 2G and rockin the. recess or other bearing seat. i

In the illustrated embodiment platform 26 supports motor and the drivemeans, previously mentioned, operatively connecting the motor and shaftis. The platform also supports a-rotatable cam 32 adapted forcooperation with a cam'fol-j lower 34 mounted in relatively fixedposition from the foundation or floor. The follower may be of Furnace I0is suitably of any'conventional' plete rotation of the cam whereby theoscillatory any suitable type but preferably comprises a roller mountedfor free rotation on shaft 35 supported in bearings in brackets 37. Cam32 is contoured to rockthe drum at a preferably uniform speed from theposition shown in dot and dash lines (see Fig. 1) through the full lineposition to the position shown in dotted lines. The return rocking oroscillation of the drum to the position shown in dot and dash lines iscaused by compression springs 39,1ater described in more detail, andpreferably mounted to press upwardly on corners of the platform at theopposite end from the cam. The springs yieldably urge this end of theplatform upwardly to hold the cam in operative .contact with thefollower through the commovement of the drum in both directions is undercam control. Cam 32 is preferably also driven-from motor 28 through drumshaft IS, a reduction gear box 36 and chain drive 38 connecting shaftlfiand the gear box. 1 i 1 Compression springs 39-are carried by mount.-ings' 40, each suitably consisting. of a rod 42 pivoted to platform 24and extending into a pit in the foundation or floor. The lower end.v ofrod 42' projects through a plate t8 anchored in the foundation. Aretainer plate 5! is affixed to the rod adjacent its opposite end,plates 46 and 5B confining the compression spring 39 between them. l iSprings 54, somewhat weaker than springs. 39, so that they will notcounter-balance the: latter, are preferably provided 'at thopp'osite-endof the platform from springs 39 to serve as safety anchorsand to additionally.v cushiontheoperaition to preventsudden jerks orstops. ineither direction of oscillation of the drum. The mount-,-

lugs for springs 56. may be the same as those for spr s 39.

In the operation of the apparatus described above .and in carrying outthe method of the instant invention, the filaments, say 500 or more innumber and in one or more rows, are drawn from the orifice plate of thefurnace and corinectedto the drawin drum in any conventional manner.Motor Zii'is operated to drive the drum at the desired speed to securefilaments of the required diameter and, at the same time the drum isoscillated on shaft 28 through the-action of cam 32 on cam follower 34'.The relative rate of oscillation to drumrevolution may be'adjustedasdesired by proper selection of the gear reduc-' tion ratio of. gearbox 36 to obtain a predetermined angularity of the filaments on thedrum; For example, it has been found that successful operation can beobtained with the drum driven at approximately 200 R. P. M. and the camat, say, 2' R. P. M., whereby the drum will make revolutions. for eachcomplete oscillation. A mat produced in this manner will havethefilaments of adjacent layersintercrossing at relatively acuteangles'to one anothe'nsimilarly as themats'produced by the presentcommercial equipment. The method and apparatus of the instant inventioneliminate the difficulties of the prior operations. ,The furnace isstationary at all times whereby bre'akageofthe filaments is re-' ducedto a minimum. Furthermore, in the event of breakage; the. operator canreadily replace the filament with little danger of injury to adjacentfilaments. The filaments are laid smoothly on the drum, the possibilityof entangle-inent'being' greatly minimized as the oscillatory movementof the drum issmooth and uniform and the drum is free from vibration.There are no pauses or dwells in the oscillatory movement and, hence,the mat is of uniform thickness throughout. Due to the fewer filamentbreakages and the ease of replacing the filaments which do break, thecost of operation is greatly reduced. Also, manufacturing costs per unitof usable material are lowered by reason of the fact that the entire matis in usable condition.

Having thus described 'my invention in rather full detail, it will beunderstood that these details need not be strictly adhered to but thatvarious changes and modifications may suggest themselves to one skilledin the art, all falling within the scope of the invention as defined bythe subjoined claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a device for drawing a multiplicity of filaments lying insubstantially a single plane and winding them on a drum to formsuccessive layers, a shaft supporting said drum, first means forrotating the shaft, and second means for rocking the shaft inpredetermined, timed relationship to the rotation of theshaft to windthe filaments on the drum with filaments of successive layers inintercrossed relationship.

2. In a device for drawing a multiplicity of filaments lying insubstantially a single plane and winding them on a drum to formsuccessive layers, a rockable shaft supporting the drum, means forrotating the shaft, cam means for rocking the shaft to wind thefilaments on the drum with filaments of successive layers inintercrossed relationship, and means for rotating the cam inpredetermined, timed relationship to the shaft. 3. In a device fordrawing a multiplicity of filaments lying in substantially a singleplane and winding them on a drum to form successive layers, a shaftsupporting the drum, means mounting the shaft for rocking movement on anaxis extending at right angles to thev shaft, a cam and follower forrocking the mounting means, and means for rotating the cam inpredetermined, timed relationship to the rotation of the shaft.

4. In a device for drawing a multiplicity of filaments lying insubstantially a single plane and winding them on a drum to formsuccessive layers, a shaft supporting the drum and means for mountingthe shaft for rocking movement on an axis at right angles to the shaft,said means comprising a platform, means supporting the shaft from theplatform, a pivotal mounting for the platform and means for rocking theplatform on the pivotal mounting including a cam and follower, springmeans to maintain the cam and follower in operative contact and meansfor rotating the cam in predetermined, timed relationship to therotation of the shaft.

5. In a device for drawing a plurality of filaments lying insubstantially a single plane and winding them on a, drum to formsuccessive layers, a shaft supporting the drum, means REFERENCES, CITEDThe following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,552,038 Comstock Sept. 1, 19251,663,853 Newville Mar. 2'7, 1928 1,950,219 Blum Mar. '6, 1934 1,968,693Kroger et al July 31, 1934 2,135,072 Forster Nov. 1, 1938 2,195,859 GentApr. 2, 1940 2,234,986 Slayter et a1 Mar. 18, 1941 2,363,205

Smith Nov. 21, 1944

